Are Unhealthy Fumes From Your Garage Getting Into Your Home?

Jan 22, 2013

If you have an attached garage, it’s very possible that fumes from the garage are getting into your home. You certainly don’t want any of that unhealthy air in your living space. Fortunately, there are things you can do to keep the fumes out of your home and ensure that your indoor air is safe.

Two primary conditions encourage the movement of air from a garage into a home:

A pressure difference – The average home often has a pressure that’s different from the pressure outside. When it’s cool or cold outside, and you’re using your furnace or other vented appliances, your home tends to draw the high-pressure outside air in, where the air pressure is lower, and the air is warmer. That can include contaminated air from the garage.

A leaky wall or ceiling – The primary means of air movement from the garage into your home is a leaky shared wall or ceiling, depending on where the garage is located. So even if you never used the access door to the garage, fumes from the garage would seep in through cracks in the wall.

To keep out the fumes from your garage, work with a professional to seal the shared wall or ceiling. In addition, installing a ventilating fan in the garage that runs on a timer will lower the pressure in the garage and exhaust fumes before they have a chance to enter your home. Here are three other measures that you can take.

As much as possible, avoid opening the door from your home to the garage when the car is running.

Replace worn or damaged weatherstripping around the door to the garage.

Avoid running the car in the garage. Instead, back the car into the driveway to let it idle.

Are you concerned about the effect fumes from your garage may be having in your home? Contact Rinaldi’s Air Conditioning Service for expert advice. We’ve served Orlando and central Florida since 1969 with quality air-conditioning and heating services.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about indoor air quality and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.